Descpription:
Mortal Kombat was the first entry in the famous
and highly controversial Mortal Kombat fighting game series by Midway
Games, released in arcades in 1992. It was later picked up by Acclaim
Entertainment for the home version, then later returned to Midway.
It centers on the first Mortal Kombat tournament and the ultimate
defeat of the evil Shang Tsung by the monk Liu Kang.
Originally, creators Ed Boon and John Tobias wanted to create a video
game starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, with a digitized version of the action
star fighting villains. Unfortunately, Van Damme was already in negotiations
with another video game company (that game was never realized either),
so they decided instead to create a game loosely based on Enter the Dragon.
Van Damme's likeness is still clearly seen in the character of
Johnny Cage; a Caucasian Hollywood martial arts movie star who performs
a split punch to the groin (inspired by a scene from Bloodsport).
The game was a response by Midway to Capcom's successful Street Fighter II,
which spawned a number of fighting games. However, it used a distinctly
different fighting system from the Street Fighter formula, which was used
in all subsequent sequels until Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance.
The controls consisted of five buttons arranged in an "X" pattern: a high punch,
a high kick, a low punch, a low kick, and a block button, as well as an eight-way joystick.
